FMC 2024

2024-06-01 ~ 2024-06-02

By Scramble By Person

Wong Chong Wen (黄崇文)

Detected as competition participant

Winning the comp with cool solutions on all 3 solves :)

Final

#1Mean21.00Single21 (21 / 21 / 21)

Attempt 1

Scramble

R' U' F D R F2 D L F D2 F2 L' U R' L2 D' R2 F2 R2 D L2 U2 R' U' F

Results

U F R' L U F' B' L2 U2 F R2 D2 B2 U2 L' D2 B2 R L D2 B'

U F L R' U//EO (5/5)
(B) F2 D2 L2 B//DR, 4a1 (5/10)
(D2 R2 U2 B2 R)//HTR (5/15)
(U2 F2 U2 L2)//M + S slice (4/19)

...U [F2 D2 L2 B L2 U2 F2] U2 {R' B2 U2 R2} D2 B'

[]->B' F' L2 U2 F R2 D2 B2 (20)

{}->L' D2 B2 L R (21)

Final: U F L R' U B' F' L2 U2 F R2 D2 B2 U2 L' D2 B2 L R D2 B'

6/8/6 EO count

I found the skeleton like this:

U F L R' U
(B) F2 D2 L2 B'
(D2 R2 U2 B2 R)
([B2 R2 F2 D2] L2 U2 L2})//backup 22

then I kind of mentally visualised the following replacements:

[]->(U2 F2 {L2 B2)//mess up the S slice but this rearranges the moves, no shortening, however this gives the opportunity to:

{}->(U2 L2 B2)//mess up the M slice but it shortens by 3

You will see on all 3 solves that I just kind of tunneled on one thing and stared at it for a long time until stuff worked

optimal for this DR (and after EO) is 20 but uses 3q. Krish found it using blockbuilding. I was considering trying 3q but decided not to do it after already finding 21.

I looked at one other DR:

L (R U2 L')
(U' B' D2 L2 B D)//2c3 (10)

This scr is 19 optimal by the way

March 2, 2026 10:18 PM

Attempt 2

Scramble

R' U' F L' F2 D B2 U2 B2 F2 R2 D R2 F R2 D R2 D' B L' R U R' U' F

Results

R U2 D R' D2 B2 D B2 D F' D' B2 D F' B2 L2 U2 F2 R U B

R D (B' U')//EO, DR-3c (4/4)
F R2 B L B' R2 B L' B' F'//placeholder comm, 4b2, I estimated that a comm should add about 6 moves in the end so I treated this as a 10 move DR (10)
U2 R' (R')//HTR (3/13)
(F2 U2 L2 B2 F2 D2 B2 D2)//solve (8/21)

remove the placeholder:

R D U2 R' D2 B2 D2 * F2 B2 L2 U2 F2 R U B//15 to 3c

*=D' B2 D F' D' B2 D F (8-2/21)

Final: R D U2 R' D2 B2 D B2 D F' D' B2 D F' B2 L2 U2 F2 R U B

4/6/8 EO count

There was a 1 move EO but I genuinely did not find any good DR from that, I missed some 9+3s with simple finishes. But I guess the EO I used technically implements the 1 move EO as well.

I did not want to do this DR at first, but as I checked the 1 move EO almost past 35 minutes I felt that I should just cut my losses and just try to find something from it instead of continuing to find something better which may or may not exist.

I missed a 10 move finish from the DR which wouldve given 20 after insertion. Jay mentioned he almost found a 20 from 14 to 3c so it must've been this.

Overall a kind of mid result for a 1 move EO, and after seeing the results I felt a little down about being 4th place for mo2.

March 2, 2026 10:19 PM

Attempt 3

Scramble

R' U' F U R' F2 D2 B2 U B2 L2 B2 F2 U2 F' L F D2 L' F2 R U B' R' U' F

Results

D F' R' B R L2 D B' R' F R2 B' R F' R F B' R2 D2 F2 B'

(F) D F' R' B//EO (5/5)
R L2 D//DR, 2c5 (3/8)
B' R' F R2 B' R F' R//HTR (8/16)
F B' R2 D2 F' B'//solve (6-1/21)

Final: D F' R' B R L2 D B' R' F R2 B' R F' R F B' R2 D2 F2 B' (irrelevant but this solution has no U moves lol)

6/4/6 scramble

This 5q DR was from one of the first EOs I checked. My random NISS EO habit strikes again...

As I continued checking the rest of the EOs I just had this nagging feeling telling me to just stop and just do the 5q. I suppose it makes sense, since I felt like a 22 might be good enough to podium after looking at the crappy scramble and I could probably get that from this DR. I didn't stop, but I finished my DR search with not a single DR that felt better than this 8+5 anyway.

I found the HTR solution like this:

B2 R//reduce to 2c4
D R' U R2 D' R U//HTR in 17

but I realised that technically you could do the trigger before the R since it just does an AUF of the R face. In fact doing it before the R makes it start with a B and that cancels 1 for a 16 to HTR.

This solution is optimal for the DR, but Jay mentioned that he got his 20 from DR flipping this DR and CE confirms that it exists. I guess I'll have to keep that in mind next time.

I had this one other DR that I found by accident:

L2 F D2 L
U//I thought this was 4e4c but it isnt
(D)//RZP again i guess
(B2 D2 F' U)//2c4 (10)

Anyway, winning with all 3 solves doing unconventional solutions/techniques makes me really happy and especially this solve has to be one of my favorite official solutions ever :)

March 2, 2026 10:19 PM